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Soaring rates of tuberculosis in children living in London
March 21, 2002Rates of tuberculosis (TB) have risen 130 per cent in children living in London over the past decade, reports a study in Archives of Disease in Childhood.
More TB is being diagnosed in 10 to 16 year olds than in any other childhood age group. Around 1 million cases of TB are diagnosed in children around the world every year.
Data from the Public Health Laboratory Service Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre for 1982 to 1998 and the five yearly National Survey results for 1993 and 1998 were used to chart disease trends.
These show that rates of TB notifications in London among children aged 16 or younger fell between 1982 and 1988, since when they have risen every year, giving a cumulative rise of 130 per cent by 1998.
In 1998 more than four out of 10 children with TB were Black African, compared with approximately one in four in 1993. One in five was from the Indian Subcontinent compared with one in two in 1993, and one in 10 were white compared with one four in the earlier survey.
Almost one out of two affected children was born overseas in 1998, slightly fewer than in 1993, but most of these children developed TB within five years of entering the UK.
The authors conclude that the high rate of infection among those born overseas emphasises the importance of immunisation. London health authorities use a mixture of universal and selective vaccination policies, but selective targeting can be difficult to implement, they say.
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
These show that rates of TB notifications in London among children aged 16 or younger fell between 1982 and 1988, since when they have risen every year, giving a cumulative rise of 130 per cent by 1998.
In 1998 more than four out of 10 children with TB were Black African, compared with approximately one in four in 1993. One in five was from the Indian Subcontinent compared with one in two in 1993, and one in 10 were white compared with one four in the earlier survey.
Almost one out of two affected children was born overseas in 1998, slightly fewer than in 1993, but most of these children developed TB within five years of entering the UK.
The authors conclude that the high rate of infection among those born overseas emphasises the importance of immunisation. London health authorities use a mixture of universal and selective vaccination policies, but selective targeting can be difficult to implement, they say.
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
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